Trying a Tri

I tried a Tri.

Well... not just me.  No way would I do this alone.  Amber and Jamey and I first looked into it.  We thought that if we were ever going to try a triathlon, this would be the one to do--TriathaMOM.

Women only.  No time limit.  Didn't sound too scary.

I could ride a bike.  Sure I hate to run, but no one said I couldn't walk.  It was swimming that was my biggest concern.  I hadn't swam a lap ever.  At least not that I could recall, and definately not without having to plug my nose.  Needless to say, can you even call that swimming, if you only have one free arm to use?  But we had 4 months.  Surely I could learn.

So we recruited a bunch of family and friends.

About 14 of us.

We decided that since we had such a large and awesome group, we needed a team shirt.  This is what we came up with.  Some thought we should have been more positive and hard core.  But the rest of us decided that humor was the only way to get through this thing.  We got a bunch of compliments.  Some people even said that when they were running and wanted to stop, they saw our shirt, smiled, and got the boost they needed to keep going.

Here's our family shot.  Kare came up from Arizona, Sherrie and Melanie drove up from California and Amber flew in from Boston.  Next time I want to see more of us.  Julianne?  Alli?  Mom?  Michelle?  :)

Here is a quick video that the Triathamom videographer made.  You can see me for a split second waving from my bike.



And now for the story of the tri...

I had read that I wouldn't be able to sleep the night before the big day.  But seeing as we had just returned from Bear Lake that day, and had to unpack, do laundry and get the house ready for Sherrie, Amber, Dave, Melanie, John and Zoe to stay over for the weekend... I had NO trouble falling right to sleep.  I slept so well, that I didn't even hear my alarm.  Amber knocked on my bedroom door about 5 minutes before it was time to leave.  Melanie's too, haha!

We met up with our group and drove to the Olympic Oval all together to set up our transition area. 

It was so early.  And dark.  And so early.

After we were all setup we just walked around and talked, and took a bunch of pictures.  Kare was so amazing.  Even though she is a step instructor at her gym, she hadn't trained at ALL for this.  She hadn't swam a lap since high school, didn't ride a bike till the day before the race, and hadn't practiced running at all.  Yeah.  She still whooped me.  But hey... she's still in her twenties.

Here's Jamey and I showing our tats.  Jamey is also amazing.  She broke her toe just a couple weeks before and could barely put a shoe on her foot.  But she powered through and even made her goal time.

 

Before we knew it, it was time to start.  There were 5 waves.  We didn't know which group to enter the pool in.  We're not very strong swimmers, so Kare, Sherrie, Melanie, Amber, Julie and I joined the 2nd to last group, Wave #4.  We knew we wouldn't need kickboards so we refrained from joining the last one.  

As soon as I entered the pool, it was all a blur.  Swimmers everywhere.  I was trying to pass, and others were trying to pass me... it was chaos.  Very frustrating.  Next time I think I'll use my dad's strategy and try to be the very last swimmer in the water.  The less crowded, the better.  During the swim, my dad, Alli, the Bartletts, and the Merrills were there to cheer us on.

Here's some of Dad's videos.  This one is Kare.

This one is me.  And yes... by going to a pool about once a week and watching those around me, I learned how to make it across a pool without plugging my nose.  Only took me 31 years to figure it out!

Here's Kare finding her bike after the swim.

Melanie and I were at the transition area about the same time.

My bike ride went well.  Minus the 2 minute stop I had to make at the beginning because my bike bag came off and it took me forever to refasten it.  The bike is my favorite part.  I called Charles on my cell phone on the way out to let him know I had started the ride because he didn't want to bring all the kids over until I was close to being done.

It was fun to see David and Alli on the sidewalk cheering us on for both laps.  There might have been more people there, but I only glimpsed them as I rode past.  I even saw Charles drive past and he cheered for me from the car while I was on my last lap.  I was happy to see him.

That was about a minute before I had to slam on my brakes because a biker ahead of me had either just been hit by a car, or had lost control and and slid right in front of a car.  I wasn't sure which.  She was okay, pretty bloody, but luckily, it had happened near a cop directing traffic, and he was already on his way over to help. I knew there was nothing I could do, and help was on the way, so I rode on.  Just a little more cautious.

While we were on the bike ride, there were lots of things for kids to do.  There was a park playground, bounce houses, face painting, cotton candy, and poster making. 

It was really cute.  On the bike ride, there were messages written on the street in chalk that some kids had written the night before for their moms.  It made me smile.

This is my friend Jenni.  She scraped her knee on the side of the pool as she was coming out of her swim.  Why they had us exit out from the center of the pool, instead of on the side where there is a ladder is beyond me.  We were tired and shaky after the swim, and then had to hoist our heavy and wet bodies out all on our own.  Oh well. We all survived.

This cracks me up.  Jamey was in such a hurry during her transition, she forgot to change her shoes.  She did her whole ride in her flip flops!  Haha!

Here's my friend Lisa.  I had to do a lot of arm-twisting to get her to join!

Here's Kare finishing her bike portion.  I had passed her on the bike ride and was in the transition area hitting up the porta potty.  What!  I've had 4 kids!  I can't be expected to hold it that long, and I'm definitely not hard core enough to do as the pros do and just... well, y'know.

The Bartletts were there on one side to cheer us on...

... Curtis, Nathan and Kaylee were on the other side.  And Dad was behind the camera.  :)

Kare and I started our run at the same time.

I wasn't very prepared, so my earphones were in a tangled mess.

We passed our happy fans again.  Jules' signs were awesome.

Just as we started up our trail, Amber also joined us.  Our run was about a mile and a half one way and then we turned around and did a mile and a half back.  As we ran, we saw Stacey...

Jenni...

and Jamey making there way to the finish line.

After the first little bit of our run, I guess Kare decided she was done being slow and she took off leaving Amber and I in the dust.  She did the rest alone and made great time.

Yay, Kare!

Julie also passed Amber and I.

Julie is awesome.  She doesn't live in our neighborhood and couldn't train with us very much but I was so excited when she finally said she would join.  All my friends love her too.

And boy can she run!  Yay, Julie!  I love this girl.  She was the one to encourage me to do my first 5K.  Even though she could have totally lapped me in that 5K, she stuck with me the whole time while I panted my way to the finish line.  What a pal. :)

Amber and I ran the rest of it together.  Well, I guess "running" is an optimistic word.  We walk/jogged.  We both HATE to run.  In fact, I didn't train for this part at all, because I fully intended to just walk it.  Good thing Amber was there to encourage a little bit of jogging out of me.  :)

This is where we passed Dad, Alli and David.  We heard encouraging cheers from Alli and Dad, and heckling from David.  "You still run like a girl, Crissy!"  To which I muttered, "Bite me, David!"

Rounding the last corner...

Kaleb and Bradley joined me at the end.  That was my favorite moment.

Yay, Amber!

Yay, me!  It's finally over!

 Can I go lay down and sleep the rest of the day?

.

After the race, they had lots of good food and drinks.  Thank goodness, because when I finished, I felt so weak.  Charles was really cute.  He was making sure I drank a lot of water afterwards, and he even snuck into the transition area to get my energy Jelly Bellies for me. 

In fact, Charles has been so amazing and supportive throughout this whole thing.  We trained for about 4 months on Saturdays, and he was always getting up with the kids on his one day to sleep in, so I could go work out.  Not only that, but he knew I would need protein when I came home, and he always had a ham and cheese scrambled egg sandwich  hot and ready for me when I came home.  Best.  Husband.  Ever.

 A few minutes later, Melanie was nearing the finish line.

She was fast!

Yay, Melanie!

Next we saw Paige finish...  Yay Paige!

Here's Sherrie getting started on her run.  Sherrie had gotten lots of compliments on her bike.  It's a beach cruiser with saddle bags.  With those bags and her camel-back, she was prepared for anything!

On her way back, the grandkids all ran out to meet her.  Bradley walked with her.

And she made it to the finish line.  Yeah Sherrie!

Sherrie achieved both of her goals:  To finish and to not be last.  She did great.  By the look on her face at the end there, through tears in her eyes I thought for sure this would be her first and last triathlon.  But nope.  She's already planning to come back next year. :)

Bradley decided to help ease Grandma's load.

Here's me and my twin, Jamey.  Our lives are eerily parallel.  I wonder what crazy idea we'll come up with next.  :)

Our Tri group continues to grow.  We have already recruited more friends to join us next year. 

The triathlon was actually really fun.  I can't believe I was constantly working out for that long.
300 meter swim, 12 mile bike, 5K run.

Maybe next year I'll try and actually run.  Maybe.

Even though they messed up on mine and Amber's times, AND they gave everyone transition times of 2 minutes, we have sort of an idea of a time to try to beat next year.  I'm just putting in people who actually read this blog and who might forget their time otherwise.

                  Swim          T1          Bike          T2          Run          Total

Jamey        8:51           2:00      1:02:28       2:00        43:52       1:59:08
Kare          11:47         2:00      1:02:28       2:00        43:52       2:02:05
Julie          15:25         2:00      1:03:13       2:00        44:51       2:07:32
Me            15:58         2:00         57:39       2:00        52:30(?)   2:10:07
Amber   1:17:39         2:00         0:01         2:00        52:30       2:14:08
Melanie    16:53         2:00      1:10:58       2:00        47:10       2:18:59
Sherrie     26:00         2:00      1:34:31       2:00        1:14:32    3:19:00

So... who's in for next year? :)